Untitled
by Wolfsong98
Summary: One of the stories i'm working on for the stories a-z challenge on lj. It's where I write 26 stories and each story must begin with a letter of the alphabet. The title will change when i think of one that will work.
1. Zero

He looked down at the piece of paper in his shaking hands. Surely, there had to be some mistake. His day had already started off so badly that there was no way in Hell it could possibly get any worse.

Taking a deep, shaky breath and letting it out slowly, the young man ran a hand through his blonde hair as he dialed the number to his bank and listened to it ring once, twice, three times before it was answered.

"Thank you for calling Dade Mutual banking you can trust. This is Rachel. How may I help you today?"

The young man took a deep breath to get his voice steady before he spoke. "This is Michael Travers, and I want to get my account balance."

"I'll need your account number."

He had been expecting that she would need that information, so he looked down at the checkbook he had open and read off the numbers to her.

"Give me just a moment to access your account, Mr. Travers."

"Okay," he agreed, listening to the click of keys on the keyboard.

"Sir, the balance on your account is zero."

The phone fell to the counter, startling him.

"Sir?"

With a shaking hand, he picked the phone up and cleared his throat. "I… can you repeat that?"

"You have nothing in your account sir."


	2. Panic Sets In

"You have nothing in your account sir."

As those words replayed themselves over and over in his mind, Michael Travers ended the call and wiped away the sweat from his forehead. He took a step, but his knees buckled on him causing him to have to grab tightly onto the glass table to keep from falling to the floor.

"Hey Travers, have you-" The voice seemed to come from far away even though it was at most a couple feet between where he was standing and the door to the Trace lab.

It seemed like ages from the time he had ended the call and now, although he knew it most likely had only been a couple of minutes. The young man stood there holding on to the table as if it was his lifeline. As it was, his heart was beating rapidly like it was about to jump out of his chest. Travers was also breathing fast but, to him, it didn't seem like he was getting any air.

"Michael? Hey, Michael are you okay, you're trembling? Eric!"

The voice was back, and suddenly there was someone standing beside him. Travers vaguely heard someone else enter the room. Suddenly there were arms on either side of him as they carried him out of the lab.

He could hear a commotion and there was the sound of something being tossed out and a small paper sack was handed to him. Michael took it and held it to his mouth as he breathed in and out.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the panic subsided and his breathing returned to normal. Travers glanced up, his heart skipping a beat momentarily as heat flooded his cheeks, when he saw who was kneeling in front of him. Blinking his eyes a couple times didn't change the fact that Ryan Wolfe was kneeling in front of him while Eric was watching from the doorway.


	3. I I Can't

Michael Travers stared at the brown paper bag in his hands, which were still shaking. His breathing had returned to normal but his heart was still racing and he knew it wouldn't take much to have another attack.

"What happened?"

"Panic attack." Travers glanced up and saw that a crowd was slowly starting to gather outside of the break room. He saw Valera, Dave, and a few of the other lab rats standing behind Eric trying to get a glimpse and see if he was okay.

Michael turned around as much as he could so that they couldn't see his face. In doing so, he missed Ryan and Eric exchanging a glance before Delko nodded. The crime scene investigator stepped away from the door and closed it behind him. The two men could hear Eric as he assured the other techs that Travers would be okay.

"They're gone now." Ryan's voice broke the silence that had fallen upon the break room.

The blonde lab tech didn't lift his head. In fact, he didn't move at all until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Travers flinched away from the touch.

"Michael?"

"I… I can't."

Ryan squatted down in front of him. "We can't help you unless you tell us what is going on."

"I know. It's just that…"

"You know that I just want to help."

Travers sighed, reluctantly nodding his head. He took a deep breath. "Someone… someone completely cleaned out my banking account."


	4. What Am I Going To Do?

"Someone… someone completely cleaned out my bank account."

Whatever it was that Ryan Wolfe had been expecting to hear, that most certainly was not it. "Say what?"

Travers looked over at the CSI. "I don't know how it happened, but someone has reduced my bank account to nothing. I…" He took a shaky breath before letting it out slowly. "I'm completely broke."

"Do you have any idea as to who would do something like this?"

The blond trace tech rapidly shook his head from side to side. "No. I… I can't think of anyone that would do something like this to me."

"How did you find out?"

"I called the bank."

Ryan took a deep breath and let it out; using the time it took to work out how to rephrase his question. "Michael, what was your reason for you calling the bank?"

"What? Oh. I had a call from my landlord this morning. He called because the check I had given him for my rent this month bounced." His eyes widened at the realization that he might not have a place to stay and he started to hyperventilate again.

Ryan stood up and sat back down beside Travers. "Michael." There was no response, so he tried again a little louder. "Michael. Michael!" At that, the younger blonde blinked and looked over at him. "Breathe or you're going to pass out."

Travers looked down at the paper bag in his hands and began to breathe into it again.

When Ryan saw that he had calmed down. "What is it?"

"I… I may have to find me a new place, but if I don't have any money…" He looked over and met Ryan's gaze. "What am I going to do?"


End file.
